Comparison of locomotion problems and its economic impact on Cobb and Ross broiler strains

The rapid weight gain and fast muscle growth due to intense genetic selection and improved nutrition for additional breast muscle in broiler commercial strains affect chickens health. In order to compare the main locomotive problems in broilers of Cobb and Ross strains, two pens from a commercial farm in Veracruz, Mexico were used. The first pen housed 16,500 males and 16,500 females of Cobb strain and the second one 16,500 males and 16,500 females of Ross strain. Chicks were checked for locomotion problems from day one until their sale. Animals with problems were recorded and necropsies were performed to identify the pathology. Out of 1406 animals with locomotive problems (2.13% of the total), 58.9% were Cobb and 41.1% Ross (P <0.05). The frequency of locomotive problems was 2.51% for Cobb and 1.75% for Ross. Most common individual lesions were osteochondrosis (38.61%), inflamed joints with purulent contents (37.13%), and valgus (19.65%). Locomotive problems appeared since the first week, but its number increased as birds gained weight, particularly from the fourth week on. Problems occurred more in males than in females and in Cobb birds than in the Ross strain. Economic loss due to locomotion problems was higher for the Cobb strain.

Economic Impacts of Clinical and Sub Clinical Mastitis on Dairy Farms

Studies have reported on the economic impacts of clinical and subclinical mastitis on dairy farms. Bovine mastitis is a disorder that affects dairy farms and has a major economic impact. Most of the economic losses are the result of mastitis. Mastitis is an invasive infection that is among the most numerous and highly complicated infections in the dairy sector. Mastitis is one of the most expensive diseases in terms of production losses among animal diseases. Mastitis reduces milk production, changes milk composition, and shortens the productive life of infected cows. Farmers must concentrate on avoiding mastitis infection whilst putting in place and following a mastitis control programed. Bovine mastitis, the most significant disease of dairy herds, has huge effects on farm economics. Mastitis losses are due to reduced milk production, the cost of treatments, and culling. Major factors related to low milk yield could be low genetic potential as well as poor nutritional and managerial approaches. Most of the losses are related to somatic cell count (SCC), which is characterised by an increase in the percentage of milk. Culling costs are the costs of rearing or buying a replacement animal, mostly heifers. Overhead impacts include the replacement animals' lower milk supply effectiveness. The expense of replacing animals prematurely due to mastitis is one of the most significant areas of economic loss.

Investigation of Two Precipitation Methods for Extracting Immunoglobulin Y (IgY) from Egg Yolks

Two groups of hens (control and immunization group) were arranged in an experimental design with an immunization schedule of 3 injections of BSA antigen. IgY antibodies were extracted from egg yolks by two precipitation processes (chloroform and polyethylene glycol precipitates) and quantified using a standard curve of protein concentration. The purification of IgYwas confirmed by SDS-PAGE. Total protein extracted from egg yoks were less contaminated with yellow pigments (lutein and zeaxanthin) by using chloroform precipitate. The 2nd week post-immunization, IgY concentration increased respectively to 3903 ± 726 μg.ml-1 (chloroform extraction process) and 2937 ± 294 μg.ml-1 (PEG extraction process) (P < 0.01). After 3rdimmunization, IgY level obtaining from in immunization group extracted by chloroform process (6633 ± 1166 μg.ml-1) increased 2.7 times higher than that in control group (2482 ± 414 μg.ml-1). Whereas IgY concentrations obtained from PEG extraction process were not significantly different between the experimental group and control group. Chloroform and PEG precipitation methods had the same protein profile on the SDSPAGE. IgY antibody was identified by the presence of bands corresponding with IgY heavy chain (67-70 kDa) and IgY light chain (25 kDa) for both precipitation processes.

Survey on Avian Malaria Parasites in Village Chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) in Gombe Local Government Area, Gombe State, Nigeria

Reports of avian malaria parasites in village chicken in Nigeria generally remain fragmentary and scarce. The study was conducted in Gombe Local Government Area of Gombe State, Nigeria to investigate avian malaria parasites in Village Chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) and to determine the risk factors associated with the prevalence of the haemoparasites. A total of 530 village chickens blood samples were obtained from apparently healthy village chickens' brachial veins using sterile 2mls syringes and 23 gauge needles. Thin blood smear was made from each blood sample, and Giemsa stained and examined for the presence of avian haemoparasites under an electro-microscope. The result indicates 23.8% overall prevalence rate of three species of avian malaria parasites consisting of Plasmodium, Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon species.Plasmodium spp. has the highest prevalent rate of 13.0% followed by Haemoproteus spp. (5.1%), mixed Plasmodium spp. + Haemoproteus spp. (4.9%) infection and Leucocytozoon spp. (0.8%). Prevalence of avian malaria parasites was significantly higher in cocks compared to hens (p < 0.05), as well as higher in adults compared to growers chickens (p < 0.05). This study also showed a higher prevalence of avian malaria parasites during the rainy season compared to the dry season of the study period. It was concluded that haemoparasites of Plasmodium, Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon species that occur in both single and mixed infections are prevalent among village chickens that are apparently healthy in Gombe Local Government Area of Gombe State, Nigeria.

The Influence of Newcastle Disease Virus Major Proteins on Virulence

The Newcastle disease virus (NDV) negative-strand RNA genome containssix genes. These genes encode nucleoprotein (NP), phosphoprotein (P),matrix protein (M), fusion protein (F), hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN),and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (L) proteins. The six proteins affectthe virulence of NDV in different ways, but available information on thesix proteins is disparate and scattered across many databases and sources.A comprehensive overview of the proteins determining NDV virulence islacking. This review summarizes the virulence of NDV as a complex traitdetermined by these six different proteins.

Antibacterial and Antioxidant Activity of Rhodomyrtus Tomentosa and Cinnamomum Zeylanicum Crude Extracts

The aim of this study was to investigate the extraction method for R. tomentosa and C. zeylanicum leaves and the evaluation of antibacterial and antioxidant activities of crude extracts. The results of the study showed that the active ingredients of crude extracts were clearly separated by Thin-layer chromatography and the presence of rhodomyrtone in R. tomentosa crude extract and cinnamaldehyde in C. zeylanicum crude extract. R. tomentosa crude extract was antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus with 13.1 mm of inhibition zone, but is not effective against Salmonella Typhimurium. C. zeylanicum leaf extract did not show antibacterial activity on both S. aureus and S. Typhimurium. At a dilution of 1/2 of the R. tomentosa crude extract can completely inhibit S. aureus growth. This study also indicated the presence of antioxidant compounds such as flavonoids, tannins, phenols and terpenoids in C. zeylanicum and R. tomentosa crude extracts. The results showed that R. tomentosa and C. zeylanicum crude extracts should be used as a biotherapy alternative to antibiotic therapy. However, further study would be needed to investigate the antibacterial activity of crude extracts in vivo.

Challenges for the characterization of genetically modified animals by the qPCR technique in the era of genomic editing

Characterization of genetically modified organisms through determination of zygosity and transgene integration concerning both copy number and genome site is important for breeding a transgenic line and the use of these organisms in the purpose for which it was obtained. Southern-blot, fluorescence in situ hybridization or mating are demanding and time-consuming techniques traditionally used in the characterization of transgenic organisms and, with the exception of mating, give ambiguous results. With the emergence of the real-time quantitative PCR technology, different applications have been described for the analysis of transgenic organisms by determination of several parameters to transgenic analysis. However, the accuracy in quantitation by this method can be influenced in all steps of quantification. This review focuses on the aspects that influence pre-analytical steps (DNA extraction and DNA quantification methods), quantification strategies and data analysis in quantification of copy number and zygosity in transgenic animals.

Determination and Prevalence of Ticks in Cattle in Konya Province of Turkey

Ticks are common in the world. Diseases caused by ticks and fleas bring significant economic losses to the livestock industry. With the pathogens they carry, Blood-fed ticks infect humans and domestic animals. This study was conducted between January 01 and August 30, 2018, in the Konya province of Turkey, to determine the prevalence and species of ticks in cattle. 272 pieces of cattle were examined in terms of tick infestations. These cattle were selected from herds of 16 different cattle breeders in 5 different regions of Konya. Ticks were collected by the simple random sampling method. Tick infestation was detected in 70 (25.7%) pieces of cattle that were examined during the study.Tick infestation was followed in 68 (29.3%) pieces female cattle and 2 (5%) pieces male cattle. During the study conducted, the following results had been determined; according to age, 12 (14.5%) of ticks were juvenile, 58 (30.7%) of them were adults, according to the body condition, 26 (23.4%) of them were good, 35 (26.1%) of them were average and 9 (33.3%) of them were week.It is found that cattle in the study area were infested in the tick species Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus 65/272 (23.9%) and R. bursa 5/272 (%1.8). 332 female and 304 male total of 636 ticks were collected from the cattle. Genders were determined under a stereomicroscope. The high tick infestation shows that fight against tick is a hard process, and planning is a must to reduce the tick burden in cattle. Besides, this study will enable us to make suggestions to the relevant sectors in terms of parasitic struggle in eliminating the health and economic problems caused by ticks in the Konya province by determining the prevalence and species.

Evidence-based Rapid Review to Approach Diagnostic Test Research. A Veterinary Practitioners Opinion

In animal research systematic reviews and meta-analysis have been playing an important role improving the quality of evidence that professionals use worldwide. However, it is claimed that it is in its initial stage of development. In veterinary medicine the heterogeneity in the evaluation of variables of exposure and response makes it difficult to gather the data results for a meta-analysis and evidence-based rapid reviews and other types of reviews can accelerate the way how we obtain this information and a problem-solving approach can be developed in the veterinary medicine field.

Seasonal Variations and its Impacts on Livestock Production Systems with a Special Reference to Dairy Animals: An Appraisal

Seasonal climatic variations is one of the most important environmental issue at present, the devastating impact of which is visualized on the ecology, ecosystem and species survival. The livestock sector, that has been the source of animal protein for ever-increasing human masses, is subjected to the increased environmental temperature and higher frequency of extreme events. The impact of high degree of heat stress is found to have a direct bearing on the milk production, growth, feed intake, reproductive efficiency and disease incidence of the animals. The environmental temperature above the thermo-neutral zone of the animals has not only been adversely affecting the productivity and survival in the intensive livestock production systems, but the impact is equally seen in the extensive systems. Besides reduced milk production and change in composition, the impact of heat stress on dairy animals in general can be seen from the reduction of sperm quantity and quality in case of male and marked decline in the fertility and embryo quality in case of females. The paper analyses varied aspects of climate change impacts on production, productivity, reproduction and health of livestock, with special focus on dairy animals.